The Seattle Monorail Initiative 41

Dear Monorail Supporters:
We have been a low-cost, grassroots campaign from the beginning. We gathered 18,000 valid voters' signatures while spending only $2,300; about $0.14 per signature. Compare this with campaigns that spent over $2 per signature.
We have not asked for money often, but we do so now. We need a modest campaign donation to buy more brochures, signs, etc. We ask you to write a check for twenty-five or fifty dollars (more if you can). Your check is needed and will be well spent. Send this donation right away to:
Do not send money. The vote is over and the initiative passed.

The Monorail Initiative
7547 32nd Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98115

Sincerely,
Dick Falkenbury,Treasurer, The Monorail Initiative

Initiative 41
calls for an
rubber-tired
electric
Monorail system
to be built
throughout Seattle.

Vote YES on
Initiative 41.
Extend the Monorail!

Why Monorail?
It's pollution-free, quiet, and because it's elevated, won't get stuck in traffic or get into accidents. It's fast - the current Monorail covers one mile in ninety seconds.

Initiative 41 proposes forty miles of track extendingfrom Downtown to Ballard West Seattle, Rainier Beach and Lake City. The predominantly north-south routes will free up buses for underserved east-west commuters and allow fast intermodal connections, citywide.

The twenty-eight stations will not just be places to catch a train but commercial centers where you can get a cup of coffee, a meal, groceries, drop off or pick up dry-cleaning, check out a library book or pick up your child from day care. They will produce a profit .

Private investment will be sought to pay for the system. Because of the low cost of construction ($25 million per mile) and very low operating costs, coupled with the profit from the stations, we expect interest in financing and running the Monorail to be high. (The Seattle Center Monorail makes a profit. According to the Federal Transit Administration it is the only mass transit system that does.) Local, state, and federal funds will be sought only if necessary. And only as a last resort would the city Business and Occupation tax be raised, from 0.4% to 0.8% (less than one percent). No one wants more taxes, but we must invest in transit, and Monorail is the best value for the money.

Other advantages of Monorail:

Wheelchairs and bicycles are easily accomodated without inconvenient lifts or crowded racks.

The system can be extended to the airport, the suburbs and across Lake Washington.

New Monorails have heat coils on the rail that allow them to operate during snowstorms.
Monorails do not cause potholes or traffic jams.

Monorails hold up in earthquakes. Japan has built a dozen Monorails for this very reason.

If the RTA's planned light rail tunnel from the U-District to Downtown cannot be built because of technical or budget problems, the Monorail will work as a cheaper substitute. The money the RTA has slated for twenty miles of light rail could pay for the entire Monorail system and give taxpayers a rebate.

Seattle needs a transportation system that works at a price it can afford.
Vote Yes - EXTEND THE MONORAIL! Seattles Monorail

On November 4, 1997
Seattle voters will vote Yes on Initiative 41

On November 4, 1997, Seattle voters will have a opportunity to say yes to the Monorail Initiative 41. This proposal calls for an elevated, electric-driven, rubber-tired train. The 40 mile, 22 station system will move tens of thousands of people economically and quickly throughout the city. The route will begin downtown and go to Ballard, West Seattle, Rainier Beach and Lake City.

Elevated because this allows the vehicle to go over traffic jams, accidents and all of the other things that cause other mass transit to just sit in traffic.

Electric-powered because, unlike gasoline cars and diesel buses, monorails do not add to pollution.

Rubber-tired because that means the Monorail will be very quiet. And, because its rubber-tired, the Monorail will weigh a lot less than normal steel-wheeled trains and light-rail vehicles so the structure that it rides on weighs less (and costs a lot less to build).

What about the R.T.A.?

Denny Fleenor, spokesperson for the Regional Transit Authority, has said, The Monorail proposal is compatible with our system.

And should the need arise, the Monorail can stand alone, serving Seattle, with the possibility of eventually extending to outlying areas.

The Monorail floor is at the same level as the station floor. There will be room to roll your bike on. Or your wheel chair.

The Federal Transportation Agency monitors over 500 transportation systems nationwide. And only Seattle's Monorail makes a profit. This proposed Monorail system will have no operators (like Vancouver's Skytrain); there is nothing to run into, so you don't need drivers. Drivers are 80% of the cost of any system. The Monorail will make money.

The Seattle Monorail has had over 35 million passengers since 1962. It has not had to replace a single train, post or rail due to wear or damage.

What About Earthquakes?

Because monorails are light and elevated, the rails tend to sway but not break in an earthquake.

The Disneyland Monorail suffered no damage in the Northridge Earthquake of 1994.

Kobe, Japan lost use of all of its freeways and train lines in its devastating earthquake but all three of its monorail systems survived and were operating that same day.

Cost and Taxes

Our estimate is that the system will cost $850 million; about $25 million per mile. The Public Development Agency that will build and run the monorail must first seek private funding. If that doesn't do it, then Federal, State and County funds will be sought. Only then will the City's Business and Occupation Tax be raised, from 0.04% to no more than 0.08%.

This tax will come off after ten years. No one likes taxes, but if Seattle wants a transportation system that really moves people and moves them quickly and economically, then we must pass Initiative 41.

Monorails Don't Get into Accidents

Because there is nothing to hit, insurance costs will be low.

No passenger on a monorail has ever been killed in over 100 years of operation throughout the world.

Disneyworld in Orlando has a monorail system that moves over 150,000 people per day. It has an on-time record of 99.9% only one train out of every one thousand is late.

Twenty-two stations

The twenty-two stations along the 40 mile track are designed to make money. You'll be able to buy newspapers, a latte, a snack or a meal. Some will have supermarkets, dry cleaners, and day care. Others might have a bike shop, flower stand and a restaurant. The stations will be much more than just a place to catch a train.

Seattles Monorail

Contact:
The Monorail Initiative
Dick Falkenbury
P.O. Box 51145
Seattle, WA 98115-1245
Or Phone:
(206)527-1930

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The Monorail Initiative
Dick Falkenbury, Treasurer
Falkenbury@whatrain.com

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